


maybe i have turned into a monster

by gay4tae



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Apocalypse, Attempt at Humor, Horror, Humor, M/M, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Survival, Survival Horror, Suspense, Suspension, Sweetheart Huening Kai, sookai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-05-12 06:24:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19223440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay4tae/pseuds/gay4tae
Summary: Five boys against the world.Literally.





	1. Before The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Beware, I wrote this in one sitting. My butt is numb and my back is sore and I can hardly feel myself really thinking anymore. I went back to edit and revise this as much as my brain could possibly allow me to but oh my fUCK I am so tired. (Butididreallytrymybestsoihopeyouenjoy(ง ´͈౪`͈)ว)

“Okay, from the top! Huening Kai, keep your back straight during the chorus. It’s important to keep your balance in order to execute the move more smoothly. Yeonjun, take it easy on the back spin. You want to avoid putting too much pressure on the ankle so that you don’t sustain any sort of injuries in the future.”

 

After a total of eight cups of coffee and four energizer health bars, Tomorrow By Together’s dance instructor was ready to call it a day. It’s officially been six hours into their dance practice. Everyone’s tired and burned out, yet no one looks ready to stop any time soon, only stopping for water breaks. Although they were practicing consistently, their hearts just weren’t cooperating with each other.

 

“One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two—Stop!”

 

Everyone collectively stops, muscles immediately loosening and shoulders slumped. Kai bends down to rest his hands on his knees, gasping for air. He looks to his right and see Yeonjun holding a crouch position balancing on his toes with his head down, taking deep and long breaths. Next to him, Taehyun sits on the floor with his legs spread out in front of him and arms stretching out behind him with his head lazily hung back. Looking to his left, Beomgyu stands with his hands placed on his hips and his head bent back too. Then we have Soobin laying face first on the floor, long limbs sprawled out, reminding Kai of a jellyfish.

 

“I’m not seeing enough teamwork, which is very new considering we’ve never had such a problem.”

 

The whole team feels even more defeated, frustrated with the new conflict that has occurred.

 

“Let’s take another break. Get hydrated. Let’s not give up now, yeah?” Their dance instructor says, not knowing that it’ll be the last words the boys would ever hear from him again, “I’ll be back soon.”

 

Then there were five.

 

Grabbing their bottled water from the mini fridge, Beomgyu, Soobin, and Taehyun went to claim a seat on the couch by the corner of their dance studio, browsing the internet and checking social media on their smartphones. Meanwhile, Kai and Yeonjun decide to take refugee on the other side of the room, doing simple stretches and going over moves that needs polishing.

 

“Hmm, that’s strange,” Taehyun shares out loud.

 

Without removing his eyes from his own phone, Beomgyu asks, “What is?”

 

“...”

 

After not getting any kind of response back, Beomgyu finally tears his eyes away from the rectangle screen in his palm and look over to face the younger. “Taehyun?”

 

“I think something’s going on,” Taehyun finally speaks.

 

This perks everyone’s attention.

 

“Huh? What are you on about?”

 

“Check the hashtag “End Of The World” on Twitter. It’s currently trending number one in Europe and number seven worldwide. People are freaking out over some strange, unknown entity. It seems to be related to some sort of virus that is taking humans' bodies as hostages to grow and it's spreading throughout Europe.”

 

“Not just Europe. It’s now trending in China, Russia, India and even Japan. Whatever that thing is, it seems to be spreading rapidly,” Soobin chimes in.

 

“...You think it’d reach Korea by now?” Kai pops in with an expression of concern on his face.

 

However, Yeonjun seems to have the opposite reaction, “It’s probably just a prank or a new edgy meme kids are creating to garner attention. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

 

“I don’t know hyung, there’s over one point three million tweets about it. And the news is just now covering it too,” Taehyun contradict his doubts with what he’d gathered from his phone.

 

“Listen to some of these tweets,” Beomgyu reads: ‘Please, someone help us. Police aren’t responding and I don’t know what to do. My parents are acting strange and my brother and I are hiding in the attic. Everyone around us is acting different.’ Another one says: ‘Oh god oh god there’s blood everywhere. I think my sister killed my dog BUT SHES ONLY FIVE. She says she didn’t do it, but there’s blood all over her dress. I called 911 but no one picks up. Wtf is going on I’m legit scared.’”

 

“Are we in some sort of national crisis?” Soobin says, voicing his own concern.

 

Yeonjun tries to push it off as something small, despite the growing tension that was bleeding into the atmosphere, “Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like the world is gonna go into some apocalyptic catastrophe and the government suddenly goes all shut down mode on the rest of society.”

 

“Wait, let’s check the news. Maybe they have something more firm and reliable we can use,” Beomgyu suggests.

 

Taehyun clicked on one of the live stream news on Twitter and holds his arm out for everyone to see.

 

Kai quickly attach himself to Taehyun’s side in order to get a better view of the screen, “Let me see, let me see.”

 

“Wait, turn the volume up higher, Taehyun,” Soobin says.

 

“Sending the people into a frenzy, reports states that a virus scientists have been working on has leaked and gotten outside of the lab and exposed to the outside world. We have no information on how it was leaked or why it was created in the first place, but we were told that any contact with a person who’s been infected with this virus posts a high risk and immediate danger/threat to themselves and others. There has been no official statement made by the government or from any other authoritative platforms speaking aloud of this crisis. So far—oh...wait a moment,” The newsperson stops to listen into her earpiece. “We have just been informed that the president is nowhere to be found and that no attempt should be made to flee the country. There has been no specific description of what symptoms an infected person would show, but we highly advise you to stay put if you’re already somewhere safe or to quickly find shelter far away from the city. No matter what, do not—”

 

They all stare blankly at the now black screen.

 

“...What? What just happened?” Kai questions, perplexed.

 

“I-I don’t know, the screen just went black and my phone won’t turn back on.”

 

“Did it run out of battery?” Beomgyu asks.

 

“No, that’s not possible. I had seventy-seven percent battery before I logged onto Twitter.”

 

“Hey, my phone isn’t working either,” Soobin shares with his members.

 

Mild fear and anxiety was slowly creeping up on Yeonjun, “What? Are you sure? You guys better not be messing around,” he says to them in a serious tone.

 

Kai pulls out his own phone, but the result doesn’t differ from the rest.

 

“We’re not! Nothing’s working.”

 

Taehyun shakes his head in disbelief, “That can’t be…”

 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Beomgyu asks.

 

“Shouldn’t we head back to our dorm?” Yeonjun says unsurely.

 

Soobin immediately shot down the idea.

 

“No! It doesn’t sound like a good idea after what we’ve just heard.”

 

“Do you have any other bright ideas then? No one else is in the building as far as we know. They all went to the award show for BTS-sunbaenims. Not to mention our manager was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, along with our dance instructor,” Yeonjun shot back.

 

“The dorm isn’t that far,” Kai explains.

 

Soobin shakes his head stubbornly, “It doesn’t sound safe. Our manager and instructor never came back and that looks like a big red flag to me saying how we should just listen to the news lady and don’t go anywhere. We don’t know exactly how dangerous this virus is or really anything about it. If one of us gets infected, I highly doubt there’ll be an antidote if the scientists were still working on the virus itself.”

 

“So what do you suggest? That we stay here and wait for someone to come knocking on our door letting us know that it’s over and we can go home?” Beomgyu says frustratedly, letting his fear take over and slowly consume him from the inside out. “Something like this has never happened before.”

 

Kai tries to reason, “We can’t stay here forever, hyung.”

 

“I know that, but we can’t leave. We’ll figure something out if we end up staying here longer than expected. For now, let’s just try not to panic and wait it out until someone gets us. It’s the safest option we have.”

 

At that, they all sat around doing, well, really nothing. After ninety minutes has gone by, Beomgyu’s patience was wearing thin and he was ready to do something. Anything.

 

“I can’t stand this any longer. I’m going out.”

 

Everyone’s head snapped up at him.

 

“You know I can’t let you do that. Right, Gyu?” Soobin says, trying to pose intimidating to him.

 

“I’ll just be watching from afar at first. There’s got to be someone who isn’t infected by whatever this virus is. Maybe there’s someone who needs our help.”

 

“That has literally been the dumbest decision in any apocalypse movie. Everyone knows it's a one way ticket to getting your ass fucked over. You’re not leaving. No one is.” Yeonjun stated, not having anyone’s shit.

 

Annoyed, but mostly disheartened, Beomgyu settles back into his position on the couch, starting to wonder how he went from becoming an idol to possibly going back to becoming a nobody. That is if 94% of humanity has already been wiped out of course.

 

Almost an hour had passed before Beomgyu was starting to grow more restless by the minute. He was hungry, worried about his family, confused on what was happening and had absolutely no way of contact with the outside world. Most of all, he was afraid. Eventually, he became desperate. Desperate enough to want to not be depearate anymore.

 

He gets up and slowly approach the door.

 

Taehyun, who was leaning against the wall reading a book, looks up and notice Beomgyu's suspicious behavior.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

The rest of the members turned their heads towards Beomgyu. Panic was beginning to rise to the surface.

 

“Get away from that door, Beomgyu,” Yeonjun warns.

 

He takes another step closer.

 

“Come on, Beom. Stop it already,” Soobin says to him with a subtle hint of panic in his voice.

 

Beomgyu had his hand wrapped firmly around the door knob.

 

“Shit, he’s really gonna—Yeonjun, stop him!”

 

Yeonjun springs to his feet, ready to tackle Beomgyu to the ground. All Beomgyu had to do was simply twist the knob.

 

And twist he did.

 

“Beomgyu, wait!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hyung, the door won’t open.”

 

The room was engulfed in sudden silence. Like the silence before the storm.

 

“What do you mean it won’t open? Doors are meant to open, Beomgyu.”

 

“I think it’s locked.”

 

It takes them only five seconds to realize that they've waited two hours and forty-seven minutes for help, only to finally discover that they couldn’t even get out of the room being locked inside. Everyone looks at each other, watching the fear and panic wash over each other’s faces. They were stuck in a dance studio with nothing but three bottles of water, four cups of yogurt left in the mini fridge, and most importantly, no way out.

 

Yeonjun perfectly phrases the situation they now find themselves in:

 

 “Fuck.”

 


	2. Still Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers without context:
> 
> Doors, craft, and more doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely spent more time on this chapter than the previous one so I hope it was worth the wait.

Beomgyu was the first to break the silence. “What’s the plan now?”

 

“Try not to die,” Taehyun suggests.

 

“Brilliant. Why hadn’t I thought of that?”

 

"What if someone locked us in," Kai points to the floor, "...to keep us safe from what's out there?" he then gesture towards the door.

 

Beomgyu immediately shuts down the idea. "No one else is supposed to be here, Kai. Only a few staffs and our producers owns the key to this studio. You're really taking this a little over the line."

 

"But it's not impossible!"

 

“Guys, we have to get out of here,” Soobin declares.

 

“No. We stay. We could die if we go,” argues Yeonjun.

 

“Guys,” Kai tries to intervene.

 

“We’ll die if we stay here,” Beomgyu retaliates.

 

Kai interjects again, “Guys, wait-”

 

“Someone will come to save us,” Soobin persisted.

 

“And what if it’ll be too late?”

 

“GUYS!”

 

Everyone snapped theirs heads at Kai in annoyance.

 

“What?”

 

Kai points his index finger at the door.

 

“Look.”

 

His members pulled their attention away from Kai and look to see what was so important it needed attention drawn to. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

 

Until they noticed the jingle of the door knob.

  

“Is someone out there?” Yeonjun calls out.

 

Silence.

 

Everyone held their breath, not daring to move. The silence that fell upon them was suffocating, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Then there was a click, signifying the door is now unlocked. Very slowly, but surely, the door begins to open. With caution, the boys step back trying to put as much distance from themselves and the door as possible. Inevitably, the door was now wide open, revealing who was on the other side.

 

“...Manager-nim?”

 

“Are you boys alright?”

 

The members look at each other sharing the same confused, unsure look. Yeonjun shakes his head slightly, trying to display his uncertainty of the situation with his eyes. Soobin turns back to face their long awaited manager, doing his best not to appear afraid.

 

In a confident voice he wonders how he manage to summon, Soobin replies, “We’re fine, more or less. What happened out there? Where were you?”

 

“I was on my way here trying to get to you boys as fast as I could. Unfortunately, traffic proved to be hellish and had caused me to postpone my travels. I’m sorry I made you guys worry, but you’re safe with me now.”

 

Known for being observant, Taehyun notices the odd way his left hand tremored, which hasn't ever happened before. He also takes note on the way he kept shifting his foot back and forth almost as if he was...squirming.

 

“Bullshit,” Taehyun whispers only loud enough for the boys to hear.

 

“What about the virus?” Beomgyu interrupts.

 

“Virus? I haven’t a clue what you mean by that.”

 

“ _The_ virus. The one that is affecting countries all over the world. How could you not have heard about it?” Yeonjun says in disbelief.

 

“I haven’t had the chance to get caught up on the news lately. When I tried to use my phone to call you guys, my phone suddenly powered down. So I rushed here as quickly as I could.”

 

Taehyun took the chance to question, “What about our dance instructor? He was supposed to be back hours ago.”

 

“I honestly don’t know where he might’ve gone, but there’s no use worrying about it now. We have to get you boys out of here and back to the dorm. Now.”

 

Everyone hesitates, looking at their leader for confirmation. He himself had his own doubts, but what better choice did they have at this point?

 

“Come on, let’s go.”

 

Waiting for his members to leave first, Taehyun rush over to Soobin's bag and rummage through construction papers, a bottle of Elmer's glue, Scotch tape, and _We_ _Bare Bears_ stickers. He eventually pulls out a pair of scissors that was meant to be used in Soobin and Kai's next crafting Vlive.

 

They were going to make pop-up art.

 

Taehyun rolls his eyes before shoving everything else back inside and tucking the scissor securely into his back pocket.

 

They all follow after their manager out of the room and into the hallway, making their way towards the front entrance of the building. Kai reach for Soobin's hand, needing to hold onto something to soothe his nerves and calm down the fast pulse of his racing heartbeat. Soobin looks down at Kai and decides at last minute to interlock their fingers together, both finding warmth, comfort, and a sense of salvation in each other's easy to differentiate sized palms. Kai could feel Soobin’s hand begin to grow clammy and he could feel the older about to pull his hand back as a sign of insecurity. However, he didn't let that stop him from keeping his grip on Soobin's larger hand, silently letting him know that his hand was the only hand he wanted to hold. Soobin squeeze Kai's palm tighter in response.

 

They arrive safely to the lobby room and was about to exit the building when suddenly their manager stopped abruptly in his track with his back still facing the boys. He turns around and regards the members of TXT with almost dull eyes—lifelessness the only thing reflecting off from them. Kai felt chills run up his spine and back down to his feet

 

“I hate to do this now, but I need one of you to come with me. I left a very important file inside and I need to retrieve it.” He trails his eyes in Kai’s direction. “Huening Kai?”

 

Soobin instinctually place a hand on Kai’s shoulder, preventing him from going anywhere near their manager. “Do you think at this point it really matters what is and what isn’t left behind?”

 

“You haven’t the slightest idea just what importance this file contain. There’s extreme confidential and classified information about this company that if landed in the wrong hands, will prove to be the downfall of what Bang Sihyuk and your seniors, BTS, has worked hard building their whole entire life for. It can’t be left behind no matter the cost.”

 

“We could just wait in the car, couldn’t we?” Yeonjun asked.

 

“You’re not any safer if you’re farther away from me, especially unsupervised. Besides, it’ll be faster if there is another person helping me search for this. Last time I checked, I don’t recall any of you having driver licenses.”

 

“We’ll all go together then,” Beomgyu suggested.

 

“It’s too risky. If we all get lost, it’ll be a hassle having to look for each other. We’ll just end up taking more time than needed,” he explained.

 

Yeonjun crosses his arms over his chest, flaring his nose in frustration. He raises his hand before offering. “I’ll go.”

 

“Hyung!” Kai hisses.

 

“I’m afraid you can’t. You’re the oldest. Your job is to watch over your members. It’d be better if you stay here and keep an eye out for them in case anything happens.”

 

“Then I’ll go.”

 

Everyone turns their heads at Taehyun. 

 

“I'm quick on my feet and have good eyes to search for stuff. It’ll be a lot faster if I were to search for it.”

 

“I’ll go with Taehyun, too,” Kai volunteers.

 

Their manager was quick to intercept. “No, it’s better if we can have the members not be split up as much. Less chance of any of you getting lost or going missing considering we’re gonna have to split up and cover as much ground as we can. At least if we do get lost I’ll only have one person to search for.”

 

Soobin immediately became suspicious. “Wait. So, you don’t know exactly where this file, which you claim to be so important, is at?”

 

“That’s because only two people know the location of this file and Bang Sihyuk is one of them. There's not a digital copy in fear of hackers stealing this information from us. He called me earlier and told me to find it and bring it to him. Before he was able to give me the exact location of where it was inside the building, my phone powered down and I wasn’t able to contact anyone.”

 

The boys didn't like the situation one bit. 

 

“How long will you guys be?” Their leader asked.

 

“All the important files are kept in the underground level of the building and it’s a surprisingly smaller space than you’d imagine. I have no doubt it’d hardly be an hour,” he replies. Their manager then walk towards the elevator and turn around waiting for Taehyun to follow.

 

Taehyun looks at his members and tries to reassure them. “I’ll be fine. I’m smarter than you guys, anyways.”

 

“I’m counting on it, Taehyun,” Yeonjun says.

 

Taehyun and their manager then step onto the elevator. The rest of the members stare after them before the elevator door shut close.

 

After the two were out of sight, Beomgyu says, “Something feels off about this. You guys feel it too, right?”

 

“What are we supposed to do? Even if we wanted to leave, we don’t have the key to the car and it’s not like any of us has ever driven a vehicle before,” Soobin explains logically.

 

“Don’t you think this is kinda weird?”

 

“This whole day has been weird, Kai. You’re gonna have to be a little more specific than that,” Yeonjun sighs.

 

“I mean look outside.”

 

Yeonjun gaze outside the window trying to spot any peculiarities. Outside, the clouds act as a veil, shielding as much sunlight as they can from reaching the city. The weather seems to be hinting at a chance of rain, but there seems to be no signs of wind if the unmoving leaves on the trees or the lack of movement of the long overdue grass that's in need of a trimming is anything to go by. Everything was perfectly and quite eerily...still.

 

“...I don’t see anything.”

 

“That’s exactly my point. There’s no cars driving on the streets or people walking around. Even the birds seems to be missing from the sky. It’s as if everyone and everything has disappeared.”

 

“Maybe they’re all at home or taking shelter somewhere,” Beomgyu suggests.

 

“But what about the people who are infected with the virus. Where would they be?” Kai says in a soft voice that lingers in the air, almost like a whisper.

 

Everyone looks at each other once more, exchanging identical glances. The thought never occurred before until just now. If so many people were getting infected, how would they know to tell the difference between an infected person and a normal person if there were no distinct signs between either they knew of yet?

 

Suddenly, something in Soobin’s head clicked. “Wait a second. Manager-nim said that his phone stopped working after his call got cut off with Bang PD. But before, he said that his phone went out when he tried to call us…”

 

Yeonjun immediately caught on. “How could his phone disfunction twice?”

 

Realization dawned on them at the same time.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

The loud sound of a vase shattering to the ground made everyone jump out of their pants and spin around at the direction of the sound. What they saw was something unexpected.

 

“You boys have to get out of here,” their producer, Adora gasps out. Blood was seeping through her shirt just below her chest and she tried her best to not fall over. The boys quickly rush over to her side.

 

Stunned from shock, Kai asks with a shaky voice, “Oh my god, what happened to you? A-are you okay?” 

 

“Fine,” she sputters out despite having a six inch deep cut below her abdomen that might’ve hit an artery.

 

Adora scans over the boys.

 

“Where’s Taehyun?”

 

“He’s with our manager. They’re a level below us,” Soobin answers.

 

Not being able to keep her balance, she doubles over in pain about to hit the floor before Soobin caught a hold of her. She grunts in pain, before saying, “He’s not safe. Not if he’s with him. That bastard’s the one who stabbed me.”

 

Yeonjun throws her a bizarre look.

 

“What? Why would he do that?”

 

“I don’t know. I was on my way to you guys when I saw-“ she suddenly fell to her knees, making an ugly sound.

 

Soobin and Yeonjun tries as gently as they could to place her up against the wall.

 

“He killed one of the staff. I don’t know what she was doing back here so early, but she was here and h-he killed her!” More blood was pooling out from her wound and talking was starting to become more of a challenge.

 

“So I tried to go back to the dance studio as fast as I could but I thought he saw me. I didn't want to lead him to you guys so I had to lock the door to keep you safe and my cell wasn’t working. I then tried to find a place to hide b-but he found me.”

 

“This is really inappropriate timing but I thought I should let you guys know: I told you so.”

  

"Kai!"

 

“We have to go find Taehyun,” Beomgyu says as a matter of fact.

 

“What about Adora-noona?” Yeonjun motion towards their wounded producer.

 

“I’ll be fine. Taehyun’s in greater danger. Hurry, now! Before it's too late,” she pleads, trying to compose herself as best as she could. Cold sweat was beginning to form down her face and her arms were shaking uncontrollably. Despite the inevitable that she knew was soon to come, she gave a curt nod. "That’s an order."

 

Without wasting another second, the members race down the stairs, taking two steps down at a time. They finally make it to the underground level when they suddenly heard a scream. Without thinking, Beomgyu throws his body at the door.

 

"Beomgyu, wait-"

 

"Geez, what is with you and doors nowadays?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was durable. I'll still be in the process of editing this chapter, including the previous chapter and the next chapter that is to come and the next—yeah you know the drill. I also don't know if you have noticed, but I started putting in a bit of "humor"? I would consider it as a comic relief method and this was totally unintentional. It's just sometimes I come up with dialogs that causes plot holes and I try to prevent/contradict that with an attempt at humor (It's also because I just couldn't help myself ┐(´∀｀)┌) I'm afraid I might've taken away from the suspense and horror and if you are displeased with that I'll work on that, too. 
> 
> Furthermore, I'm thinking my next AU to be something a lot more fluffy and wholesome and overall just tooth-rottening. Just to get out of this dark, depressing mood that this AU has caused me to fall into. Anygays, thanks for taking some time out of your day to read my work and have a lovely day eating a tub of ice cream because you deserve it. <333


	3. The Beginning Of An Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers without context(I love doing these):
> 
> Ouch, Kang Taehyun, ouch, ouch, fire alarm, ouch, ouch, and Kang mf Taehyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why I keep choosing to write at the ass crack of two in the morning is beyond me why do I keep doing this to myself (but that’s fine. Luckily, writing is my passion even if I might have a love/hate relationship going on with it)

The ride down the elevator was slow. Not being able to help himself, Taehyun tries to discreetly sneak a glance at his manager. If possible, he was even more fidgety than before.

 

“Are you okay, sir?”

 

His manager shoots him a strained smile. “I’m fine.”

 

But his eyes says otherwise.

 

Taehyun, despite how calm and compose he may seem on the outside, is freaking the fuck out. His hand itches to touch the paper cutting tool he has tucked away in his back pocket, but he knows better than to reach for it.

 

Just when Taehyun thought he couldn’t stand the claustrophobic space any longer, a small, but clear _Ding!_ echoed off the walls of the compacted elevator. The doors slide open and only a couple of lights hung from the ceiling, casting a soft, but dark glow over the entire room. In rows, metal racks line up neatly together, shelving numerous boxes of files.

 

“I know it may seem a bit on the creepy side, but that’s only because no one rarely comes down here.”

 

“I can see why,” Taehyun mutters under his breath. He steps out of the elevator and look around once more.

 

“Where do I start?”

 

“Bighit organizes their files with a combination by date and color code. We’re looking for a file that dates back to 2013. It’s color coded by the respective colors of the rainbow from purple being the least important to red being the most important. I’ll start on the right side of the room and you start from the left. We’ll meet up somewhere in between.”

 

Taehyun shoots him a nod in understanding before getting to work. He chose a random box off the shelf and started shuffling through them. He concluded that the files were too recent, therefore ruling the box out. The next box contained many red colored files, but the dates were too outdated.

 

Many boxes later, Taehyun reaches the middle of the aisle and pulls out a box on the bottom shelf. He flips through them not seeing a single red. He was almost through the pile and was about to return the box to its original place when he spotted a clear red label on the file. He pulls it out and see that it was dated back from 2012-14.

 

“Found it,” he calls out.

 

His manager stopped what he was doing and walks over to Taehyun. He holds out his hand that was still trembling.

 

“Good work, Taehyun.”

 

Taehyun cautiously place the file in his hand. At the same time, he couldn’t help but to look up at his face. The white of his eyes were now red and blood was trickling out from the crevice. Not paying attention, Taehyun accidentally brushed his hand against his manager’s. He pulls back immediately, flinching from the contact. Taehyun thought he had touched fire. His skin was burning.

 

Taehyun retreats several steps back, breaths coming in fast.

 

“We should head back up.”

 

Taehyun starts to walk towards the elevator. Just as he was about to walk past his manager, his path was blocked. He looks up at those red eyes again, more blood pooling out like tears and sliding thickly down his cheeks. He moves to walk past him to his right, but his manager steps in the same direction.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

In a flash, Taehyun was gripped by the collar of his shirt and pushed back against the shelves. Hands crawled up his neck and suddenly he was being lifted off the floor. He grunts in pain, trying to pry the hands around his small neck off but to no avail was successful.

 

With the force of a wild beast, his manager pulls his small body back and turns around to throw him against the shelves behind him. He then wraps his stumpy hands around him again and this time proceed to repeatedly slam his head on the rack, mercilessly.

 

Taehyun was physically weaker in comparison to his manager who was already a head taller than him and possessed a larger physique. The banging to his head finally ceases and Taehyun was finally able to catch his breath. The back of his head throbbed painfully and the ringing was reverberating in his ears mildly. When he looks up, he sees his manager with a pocket knife in his hand. Taehyun suddenly remembers the weapon he had hidden in his pocket. He widens his eyes in remembrance and hastily dig in his back pocket for it. He was now only a few inches away from his manager and his knife.

 

His manager near closer, raising the knife above his head.

 

“I’m so sorry, Taehyun.”

 

Scissors in hand, Taehyun wasted no second plunging the tool into the side of his ribcage. Before his manager could react, Taehyun shoves him away and rushes to the door, trying to make a run for the stairs. His head was pounding like crazy but he kept on going. He saw the fire alarm next to the door to the stairs and made his way to pull it. His fingers only grazes the lever before he was suddenly yanked back by the collar of his shirt and thrown to the ground.

 

He landed ungracefully with an _oomf!_ doing his best to crawl as fast as he could away from him. He was then pulled back by the ankles and now lay helplessly beneath his manager’s weight. He had his wrists pinned above his head with one hand and the other with a knife to his throat. It angered him that he was _so_ close to making it out, it was on the tip of his finger. Quite literally. He turns his head to his right, glaring holes into the door. As a last attempt to save him some dignity, he muster as much saliva as he could and spit at his face.

 

“I was gonna make it quick with just a slice of your throat. Just so you wouldn’t have to suffer for so long,” he uses the back of his hand with the knife he was holding to swipe at his cheek. He looks darkly at Taehyun before saying, “I might have to reconsider.”

 

His manager was obviously not pleased by his action and guided the edge of the knife down his neck to the side of his waist. Slowly, he digs the tip of the knife into the skin causing a small trail of blood to flow steadily down his side. Taehyun sucks in his breath, shutting his eyes tight. His heart was hammering hard against the confinement of his ribcage and his head was spinning with panic. He couldn’t think straight, seeing only flashes of red that blurred his vision.

 

His manager pushed in another inch, delving deeper inside, extracting a sob out of Taehyun. By excavating further into his side, he was able to extract another shriek out of the poor boy. The pain was so excruciating, Taehyun had no choice but to let out the most horrific cry. Having had enough fun, his manager finally pulls the knife out causing blood to gush out and trickle down his side, quickly forming a small puddle.

 

His manager now held the knife with both hands, bringing it up to hover above Taehyun’s chest. He lines the knife up to his heart and brought his hands high above his head. Taehyun closes his eyes and let out one final piercing scream out of frustration as the knife was brought down.

 

The door opens with a loud _bang!_ and out came Beomgyu flying towards the two. He didn’t mean it, but he couldn’t help the momentum of his body to hurl straight into his manager making the both of them tumble to the floor. The knife that nearly pursed through Taehyun was knocked out of their manager’s hands as he was pounced on by Taehyun’s savior.

 

Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai was quick to follow closely behind Beomgyu. When they witnessed the scene before them, Soobin and Yeonjun rushes over to Taehyun’s side, checking to see if he was okay. Soobin was panicking due to the amount of blood that was spilling out of Taehyun. Yeonjun was quick to act, removing his jacket and kneeling down next to Taehyun. He balls up the material and applied pressure to the wound to help slow the blood from flowing at its already alarming rate.

 

Beomgyu picks himself back up but arms immediately wrapped themselves around his neck. Beomgyu’s hands flew up to his neck, trying desperately to pry the iron grip his manager practically had on him off. Head shoved in his elbow, he realizes that his manager had him in a headlock.

 

Kai took his eyes away from his dying member by his feet and brought his attention up to Beomgyu and their manager. The scene was messy. Both were struggling to gain the upper hand on each other. His manager was trying his best to choke the young boy, but Beomgyu kept stubbornly resisting, struggling to break out of his hold. He turned his body back and forth, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. They kept staggering in circles and really all over the place.

 

Meanwhile, Taehyun was slipping in and out of consciousness due to the large amount of blood he was losing and in a short amount of time. Yeonjun and Soobin were busy yelling at each other about what to do with Taehyun and whose fault it was in the first place, all too heaped up in a mix of fear and panic.

 

Beomgyu suddenly lost his footing while trying to wrestle out of his manager’s hold, thus falling onto his back. His manager took the chance to trap him in between his legs, using his hands to squeeze the breath out of him. Beomgyu wheezes, thumping his fists against his manager’s face and chest, but it was no use. Each second without oxygen causes his limbs to grow weaker and his head to grow dizzy. The two oldest of the group stopped their arguing and looked over at Beomgyu in alarm.

 

Beomgyu thought he was seeing things at first, but he could’ve sworn he saw tears swelling up in his manager’s eyes despite the blood that still brimmed his lids. The thought was quickly diminished when suddenly his manager’s eyes bulged out and a low groan emitted out of his mouth. When the grip around his neck loosened, Beomgyu greedily gulped back lost air. His manager then collapsed on top of him causing Beomgyu to gasp for air again just when he finally had access to oxygen. He had to use both of his hands to shove his manager off of him and to the side. Before doing anything else, Beomgyu takes a few seconds lying on the floor to catch his breath, relishing in the moment he was still alive.

 

It was only because of the heavy breathing that wasn’t coming from him that had caused Beomgyu to pause and look for the source of the sound.

 

In front of him, Kai stumbles back a few steps, in shock. His chest was heaving and his hands shook involuntarily by his side. He let the knife drop from his hand and clatter to the floor, the loud noise sounding intrusive to the ears.

 

Blood sprayed across his face and stained his clothes. With wide, startling eyes, Kai walks backwards until his back had hit the wall and he let his knees buckle, allowing himself to slide down with a soft _thump._

 

It was only when Beomgyu looked back at his manager that he’d noticed a pool of blood spilling out from the nape of his neck.

 

 

 

Kai was so taken over by shock that he hadn’t even noticed the taste of his manager’s blood that lingered on the tip of his tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAOO YALL. My search history looks like I’m planning to murder someone when I was researching about blood and stab wounds trying to get a little more knowledge to write this chapter. 
> 
> As always, thank you for taking the time to read this. I think writing the next few chapters will get easier now that I got the ball rolling in the direction I want this story to go in. Lots of love from Cali~ <333 (it’s 2 in the morning and the heat is fucking crazy) ((dont stay up too late)) *kisses*


	4. Parlous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended up not getting a blink of sleep as it is now 8 am here, thus producing another chapter! Yaaaay (but no regrets). Also, because of my lack of sleep I totally forgot to mention something extremely important:
> 
> Dear early readers who was here when I started writing this au,
> 
> I didn't have a clear view on how I envisioned this story and I was just making stuff up along the way as I go but NOW, I know exactly how I'm gonna write this. Basically...I changed the archive warning to major character death :p. That's all. Thanks again for reading this mess of an au I honestly can’t express my gratitude enough. I'm gonna go try and get some sleep now. baiii <333

* * *

“He’s losing too much blood. We need to get him to a hospital.”

 

Soobin stares at Yeonjun like he’s insane. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that’s a good fucking idea.”

 

“Tell me you’re a fucking doctor who knows how to professionally give Taehyun medical attention,” Yeonjun fires back.

 

“Soobin-hyung is right. What if we run into more of…” Beomgyu struggles finding the right word, “...people who’s been infected? We can’t out number them while carrying an injured person. We have to do this on our own,” Beomgyu tries to reason. “This virus could infect anybody and we wouldn’t even be able to tell. Before it’s too late anyways.”

 

“What do you propose we do?”

 

Everyone only offered silence.

 

“Well…” Beomgyu looks shyly down before speaking, “I’ve watched a few seasons of Grey’s Anatomy-“

 

“For fuck’s sake.”

 

“Just hear me out, please! If what I can remember is...somewhat medically accurate, I think I can help save Taehyun.”

 

“And if you’re wrong he’ll bleed out to death or he’ll die some other horrible, god-knows-awful way.”

 

“Either way he’ll die if we don’t do anything else,” Soobin backed Yeonjun up against a corner.

 

Running out of options, Yeonjun quickly gives up, sagging his shoulders in defeat. They were running out of time.

 

“Fine. What do we need?”

 

Beomgyu’s face lit up and he stated with enthusiasm, “Bighit has an emergency first aid kit back up in the dance studio in case any of us sustained injuries during practice! We’ll start with that and see what I can work with.”

 

Yeonjun nods before declaring, “I’ll stay with Taehyun. I’m afraid if I let go of my hand on his wound he’ll bleed out faster.”

 

Beomgyu and Soobin exchange glances before looking over at their youngest member who was balled up, visibly still shaken from the past event that took place less than three minutes ago.

 

“I’ll go? I think Kai could really use you right now,” Beomgyu kindly suggested.

 

“You read my mind.”

 

Beomgyu then got up and left, but not before giving Taehyun’s hand a small squeeze.

 

Taehyun wasn’t doing any better than before. The adrenaline he gained from almost being murdered was finally wearing off and he could start to feel the full effect of his wound taking place. 

 

By his side, Yeonjun sweeps Taehyun’s bangs away from his face despite the sweat that was dripping down his forehead. His other hand from pressing against Taehyun’s wound with his jacket was growing tired, yet he never removed his hand even for just a second. Instead, he’d readjust his position slightly just to relieve some of the ache in his wrist away.

 

Getting up from his criss-cross position, Soobin walks cautiously towards the trembling teen, taking care not to scare the poor, traumatized boy. Very carefully, he sits next to Kai and places one hand on his knee. Kai, startled from the contact, flinches away but relaxes once looking up at softening eyes.

 

“Talk to me,” Soobin says.

 

“I killed him, hyung.”

 

“And I’m glad you did. Who knows what could’ve happened to Beomgyu. You did the right thing,” Soobin tries to assure him.

 

“But I killed our manager," Kai retorts. "He was also our friend.”

 

“That...thing, was not our manager, Kai. Not even a person. At least not anymore. I’m sure he died a long time ago. Before the virus was able to take over and control his...brain, or whatever. That wasn’t really him, you’ve got to understand that.”

 

Kai was staring distantly ahead, not meeting the older’s eyes. “Okay, hyung.” 

 

As Soobin opens his mouth to say something, Beomgyu comes barging in with the supplies he’d gathered. “I’m gonna go over to Taehyun and see if there’s anything I can do to help. Just stay here and rest for awhile, okay?”

 

“Sure, hyung,” Kai says in an off-minded manner. 

 

Soobin sighs softly before getting up and walking back to help assist Taehyun. 

 

“How’s he holding up?” Yeonjun whispers once Soobin was out of hearing range from their maknae.

 

“Clearly still in shock. But he’s speaking so, I’m sure he’ll get better soon. I know he will.”

 

Yeonjun nodded slightly before turning his attention back to Beomgyu. “What’s the first thing we need to do?”

 

“Uhh, we need to wipe the excess blood that’s surrounding the wound. Luckily, the bleeding seems to be slowing down so that makes our job much easier. Less messy,” Beomgyu laughs awkwardly before continuing. “Then comes the hard part. We have to clean the wound by disinfecting it with alcohol.”

 

Below them, they hear Taehyun groan in agony.

 

Beomgyu smiles sheepishly at him. “It’s so your wound has less chance of catching an infection. And trust me when I say: we do not want that to happen at all.”

 

“Okay, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this over with,” Yeonjun announced.

 

Beomgyu opens the kit and stare at what he has. There were bandaids ranging in various sizes, gauges, itching cream, insect bite ointment, and pills serving different purposes. He fishes around before finding what he was looking for: cotton swabs and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

 

“I’m gonna use the cotton swabs to clean the area around the wound.” He holds the cotton between two fingers. “You can let go now,” he motion towards Yeonjun’s hand.

 

Yeonjun hesitates at first, but eventually removed his hand and blood soaked jacket away from Taehyun’s wound. A little bit of blood was still apparent, but it was definitely better than the state he was in minutes ago. 

 

“That’s good. Because of Yeonjun, your blood clogged up and helped reduce the flow of your blood for now.”

 

Beomgyu takes a deep breath trying to steady his hand before going in. He starts as far away from the wound first, then slowly began making his way closer to the center. This continued for a few minutes with only a few hisses and groans from Taehyun.

 

“Careful,” Yeonjun tells him.

 

“What do you think I’m trying to do?”

 

A few more swipes and Beomgyu considered it a finished job.

 

“Alright. Now that most of the blood is cleared, we have a good look at what we’re really dealing with here.”

 

The members looks at Beomgyu, waiting for him to continue.

 

“...Which is?” Soobin ushers him.

 

“Huh? Oh! Right. The skin around the wound is red-ish, but not so much to be an infection. That may suggest that the knife hadn’t damage any major arteries or blood vessels causing Taehyun to be bleeding out a lot more, which would have been a worse scenario. Furthermore, I’d say the wound is three to four inches deep. Give or take,” he finishes off.

 

“So now you’ve analyzed his condition,” Soobin says. “What’s the next step?”

 

“We move forward to a really simple solution,” he looks down at Taehyun before saying, “We stitch his wound close.”

 

Taehyun finally speaks. “Have any single one of you ever stitched anything in your life?”

 

No one raised their hands, except for...

 

“You have, Soobin hyung?”

 

“Yeah. Once with my aunt. She was teaching me how to stitch the rips on my clothes.”

 

“Did you do a good job?” Taehyun asks with a hint of hope in his eyes.

 

“...”

 

“...at least a somewhat _decent_ job?”

 

“When have I ever been known for being good with my hands?”

 

Taehyun heaves a sigh before closing his eyes painfully.

 

“Splendid.”

 

“We still have to clean your wound with the alcohol, Taehyun,” Beomgyu reminded.

 

“Oh, let’s just kill me now.”

 

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

 

“Are you ready for this, Taehyun?”

 

Taehyun shoots a side-eye glance at their leader. “You should be asking Soobin-hyung. He looks like he could use the encouraging words more than me.”

 

And it was indeed true. Soobin had his brows knitted deeply and lips pursed tight in a straight line. His face just screamed “pain”. It was safe to say, Soobin was internally freaking the fuck out.

 

Couldn’t be able to help but notice the nervous energy that radiated from him like an aura, Yeonjun offers him his own words of moral support, “You got this Soobin. Just take deep breaths and don’t think about it too much. I know you can do this.”

 

“I believe in you, hyung. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, we’ll believe for you,” Beomgyu added sweetly.

 

Soobin inhales and exhales slowly. He gives himself a mental pep talk before starting. _I can do this. If doctors and nurses can do something as simple as this, then why can’t I do it too? I’m Choi_ fucking _Soobin._

 

Getting fired up from his own words, Soobin was finally able to calm down his nerves and slip on a pair of latex gloves Beomgyu dug out of the kit. He held the roll of threads in one hand and the needle in the other. When he finally assembled the proper tool he needed to stitch up Taehyun, Soobin looks down at the boy, giving him a warning that he was about to begin.

 

“Just do it already,” he tells him.

 

Soobin shrugs his shoulders and had started the process of stitching Taehyun’s wound. It wasn’t even five seconds before, “OW FUCK I CHANGE MY MIND OW, OW, OW JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY!”

 

“Fuck, stay still. It’s going to look ugly if you keep moving.”

 

Taehyun then looked up at him with sharp eyes. “Have you ever been stitched up without being under any anesthesia?”

 

“Well, n-“ before Soobin could even finish, Taehyun cuts him off.

 

“I DIDN’T FUCKING THINK SO!”

 

On his left, Yeonjun was using Soobin’s jacket (which he had t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶n̶e̶d̶ asked him to take off) to wipe the cold sweat off from Taehyun’s damp skin. To his right, Beomgyu had his hand entangled with his so that he can squeeze his hand when the pain was too much to bare. It was so enduring, Taehyun would’ve gag if doing so didn’t actually make him want to throw up as much as he already did.

 

Growing impatience with the slow pace, Yeonjun asks, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

 

“Did I ever claim I knew exactly what I was doing?”

 

“You’re the one with the experience.”

 

“That doesn’t qualify me to be a professional stitcher.”

 

“No one ever said you had to be a freaking GOD at this, but at least act like you know what you’re do-“ 

 

“I can’t believe I’m gonna die with a bunch of idiots,” Taehyun groans from beneath them. Taehyun closes his eyes, trying to tune out his members’ voices. In an attempt to distract himself, he turns his head so he’s able to take a good look at Kai.

 

In all honesty, he felt bad for him. Kai had only joined the company at a very young age knowing what he was signing up to, in hopes of achieving his dream of becoming an idol who touches the hearts of others through his music. But never could he have imagined being here, blood splattered across his delicate features and soaking through his clothes, struggling with his mind to fully process what he had just done.

 

Taehyun wanted to reach out to him. To let him know he’s not alone and that he was with him. He only wanted to crawl to his side and tuck his hand neatly into his, letting him know that everything’s going to be okay. And that’s when he noticed something peculiar when he shifted his gaze to Kai’s pale hands.

 

His heart stopped beating.

 

 

 

Kai’s hands were twitching.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "tf is she doing?" is what I ask myself everyday too.


	5. Unexpected Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers without context:
> 
> Deja vu, hide n seek, and an old friend :)))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My expectations for myself were already low but hOLY SHIT. 
> 
> Hi👋. I feel really bad about how long it took me to come out with this chapter and I want to apologize for not keeping an efficient and consistent upload like I promised myself. Furthermore, this chapt still needs to undergo heavy editing but I didn’t want to make others wait so I did my best to write this in good taste. I really tried (like I reaalllly tried) to write this during the day but during the day I’m hella tired. And at night I’m STILL tired but not enough to sleep and I still have energy in me left but not enough to convert that to mental energy to write.  
> However, Im currently waiting for ep2 of txt’s reality show “Onedream” to come out and couldn’t sleep so therefore decided to do what I do best: pull an all nighter and power write myself til daybreak.
> 
> This is honestly just me using this to rant out my frustration and exhaustion. If you’re still reading this, STOP IT AND GO READ THE CHAPT IM JUST BLABBERING AT THIS POINT (but thanks for listening<3)

Taehyun laid there frozen in disbelief.

 

 _No,_ he thought.

 

The idea of Kai being infected―being like their manager was too much to take in.

 

 _No_ , he echoed more firmly in his head.

 

Before Taehyun could continue engulfing himself further in silent panic, Beomgyu snapped him out of his thoughts, “Are you okay? You’re starting to sweat a little.”

 

Taehyun blinks several times before breathing out a rough, “I’m fine.”

 

His members were uncertain but decided not to bug him any further.

 

Skeptical, Yeonjun informs, “Well, we just need to stick a bandage on it and you’ll be good to go.”

 

Taehyun only nods, distracted by his own inner conflictions. His members all look at one another exchanging looks of concern. Taehyun paid no mind to them, though.

 

“I’ll go check on Adora-noona,” Beomgyu volunteers, jumping to his feet. He gathers up his materials and rushed up the stairs.

 

Yeonjun tried pulling out his phone but was only disappointed in doing so. “Damn it. My cell still isn’t working." He heaves out a frustrated sigh, combing through his hair with his fingers. “What do we do now?”

 

Soobin didn’t respond right away. He sat there with his eyes closed and hands clenched by his side. Yeonjun looked at his face that was twisted in pain and noticed he was almost swaying.

 

“Soobin, are you okay?” The eldest asked with concern laced in his voice.

 

Soobin only hummed in response.

 

“Hey, I said if you’re-”

 

And before he knew it, Soobin had his hand up to his mouth, his chest heaving. With wide eyes, he recognized the sensation that was bubbling up to the surface and jumped up to his feet. Quickly running over to place his hands on a nearby wall, he bent his body forward and heaved up the vile that had been waiting to spill out of his mouth.

 

Yeonjun was startled with Soobin’s abrupt action but quickly rushed over to him once snapping himself out of his shock. He patted Soobin firmly on the back, soothing him with gentle rubs when another round of vile would make its way up to his throat.

 

When Soobin was finally done throwing up his system, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, cringing at the saltiness that stained his mouth. “This is why I never wanted to be a doctor.”

 

Yeonjun sagged his shoulders in relief, having thought there was something more serious going on. “Let’s hope you won’t ever have to go through that disastrous experience you call stitching, again.”

 

Meanwhile, Taehyun grunted trying to sit himself up. His head still throbbed and his wound felt ten times worse. When Yeonjun finally noticed Taehyun struggling to pick himself up, he said to him, “Whoa, hey. What are you doing? You have to rest.”

 

“I’m fine,” Taehyun stubbornly insisted. He bent his legs and pushed himself off the floor with his hands. “See?”

 

“You could open up your wound if you’re not careful,” Yeonjun scolded.

 

“That’s the least of my concerns,” he said without thinking.

 

Yeonjun threw him a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

 

“Never mind.”

 

Before Yeonjun could press him any further, the door slammed open, startling the boys. Beomgyu walked in wearing a grim expression on his face. His members immediately noticed the offsetting change of mood.

 

“I tried to save her,” Beomgyu let out shakily, “But I was too late.”

 

Everyone went quiet, their heads down in mourning the loss of not only their producer, but also their good friend.

 

Beomgyu looked at his feet in shame. “We could have saved her... _I_ could have saved her.”

 

Before Beomgyu could spiral himself further into depression and self guilt, Yeonjun cuts him out of his thought, “We don’t have time to think about that now. We have to figure out our next step.”

 

“First, we’re going to need to find some spare clothes,” Soobin looked at Taehyun’s shirt that was torn and soaked in blood then at Kai’s blood splattered appearance. “Then we need to have a meeting regarding food, weapons, and whether we stay here or search for safety elsewhere. Possibly find answers to all this madness.”

 

Having upon agreeing on everything, the boys all follow after one another onto the elevator. Soobin waited for Kai to get on before following close behind. He tried to reassure him that everything will be okay but Kai refused to even meet his eyes.

 

Before the doors closed, they all take one last look at the room. Their manager lay cold and lifeless just a couple yards away. Kai shuddered at the scene, turning away from the bloody corpse. Upon noticing Kai’s uneasiness and discontent, Soobin gathered him into his arms, gently tucking his head under his chin. Taehyun closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, trying to forget the disturbing and awful event that took place in this room. Yeonjun and Beomgyu were the only one who kept their eyes locked on their manager. With the memory still fresh in the heads, both wondered what they could have done differently.

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

After changing into a new set of clean clothes that Yeonjun collected from his bag, they all gathered in one of their many studios. No one said a word for awhile. Realizing they weren’t making any progress with their current situation, Soobin spoke up first.

 

“Let’s start with whether we want to stay here or move to another location.”

 

“Where’d we go? A supermarket? A pharmacy or a hospital?” Beomgyu suggested.

 

“Couldn’t we just go get all the supplies we need and bring it back here? The building is locked, which means we’re more safe inside than anywhere else. No one without the key can gain access inside the building,” Taehyun smartly said.

 

Everyone agreed with Taehyun but Yeonjun was quick to point out a flaw in that idea, “The only problem is that we don’t have the key. The main key is only given to a selected few. And the only staff that’s here is...dead,” he sullenly reminded.

 

“Then we’ll check all the bodies. One of them has to have the key,” Soobin says.

 

Beomgyu thought of an idea. “Since we’re checking the bodies, we should also examine them to know more about this virus. Perhaps we could discover visible signs that’ll make it easier to diagnose a person who’s been infected with this virus, effectively killing two birds with one stone.”

 

“Are we absolutely sure there’s no one else in the building? What about security guards?” Taehyun said.

 

“We’d have seen them by now,” Kai piped in.

 

After their last encounter with their manager, Soobin didn’t want to risk it. “Let’s not take any chances. We’ll split up in groups. No one is to be left alone.”

 

Yeonjun points out quickly, “I think it’d be best if Beomgyu and I were to search manager-nim.”

 

“Then the three of us will search Adora-noona,” Soobin said while looking at Taehyun and Kai.

 

Yeonjun doesn't even try to hide his concern. “Are we sure we should let Kai near a dead body?”

 

Soobin opens his mouth to say something, but Kai interrupts, efficiently speaking for himself. “I’m fine now, you don’t have to worry about me. I want to help too.” There wasn’t a sliver of hesitation in his words as he looked straight into his eyes.

 

Yeonjun was still doubtful but Soobin nodded his head in approval. Yeonjun sighed but soon gave up, deciding to trust that Soobin will know what he’s doing.

 

As they were beginning to wrap up the meeting, Beomgyu remembered an important detail. “There’s one more body. Adora-noona said that there was a staff who arrived early. Unfortunately, she was murdered by our manager.”

 

Soobin pauses before deciding, “We shouldn’t need to find her. It’s best if we don’t go exploring unprepared, especially in separate groups. I’m sure either Adora-noona or our manager has the key.”

 

Beomgyu nodded his head in agreement and no one had anything else to add to the conversation. Soobin looked at each of his members’ faces. He was their leader and despite the original purpose he had of being a leader for this group, now was the time he most needed to assert his leadership skills and make sure everyone survives within his capabilities.

 

“We’ll meet back here when we’re all finished. Does anyone have any questions?”

 

“Just one." Everyone looked at Taehyun. “What if we run into someone?”

 

Soobin didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Hide,” he told them sternly, face turning serious. "Do whatever it takes to survive."

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

“Do you think this whole thing will be over any time soon.”

 

Yeonjun and Beomgyu left before the rest of their members. They walked slowly, just in case they might hear someone else wandering around the building. The sound of their footsteps was the only thing they could hear in the empty, isolated halls.

 

Yeonjun takes a minute to contemplate before answering, “Hard to imagine,” he replies truthfully. “We just need to focus on staying alive, solving one problem at a time.”

 

“Do you think we’ll all make it?”

 

“If we demonstrate teamwork and use our heads, we’ll be fine,” he says without a trace of uncertainty.

 

Beomgyu hesitates before asking, “What if one of us…” he trailed off but Yeonjun didn’t let him finish, already knowing what he was going to say.

 

“No. I’ll take care of all of us. I won’t let that happen to anyone of us. I promise you that.”

 

They walked past the elevator deciding to instead take the alternative: the stairs.

 

“You shouldn’t make promises that isn’t within your control, hyung.”

 

Yeonjun bites his lips, not exactly sure how to give a proper response. Luckily, he didn’t have to, for Beomgyu was already throwing the door open and entering the room before waiting for an answer.

 

Beomgyu halters in his step before going any closer to their manager. The sight was still messy and horrific as one can imagine. After all, it’s not everyday you see a dead man bleeding out from the back of his nape. After recovering from his mild trauma, Beomgyu neared closer and knelt down with shaky legs. He first checked his manager’s jacket pockets, but all that were found was a wallet and his cell. Next, he dug into his back pockets, but they only proved to contain nothing. He then looked at Yeonjun for help, “Help me push him over?”

 

Yeonjun knelt down besides him and using the majority of their strength, flipped their manager over onto his back. Beomgyu proceeded to check the front pockets of their manager’s pants while Yeonjun begins to make mental observations. He looked at his face and the first thing he noted were his eyes. They were still wide open and traces of blood was clearly evident. He brought his gaze downwards until he got to his feet. There wasn’t anything else he could find. By the time he was done scanning over the body, Beomgyu had already finished fishing through all of his pockets.

 

Beomgyu was starting to grow increasingly frustrated with their lack of progress. Without anything left to do, he brought his hand up to cover his managers eyes, closing them one final time. Yeonjun gives his attempt at optimism, trying desperately to provide courage to Beomgyu, “Adora-noona has to have the key. She said that she locked our door earlier. Perhaps she also has the key for the whole building.”

 

“And if she doesn’t?”

 

“Then we’ll figure something else out. We always do.”

 

Beomgyu wasn’t too sure with Yeonjun’s bold claim but he decided it was best not to argue. “We should at least cover him. Show him some decency and respect.”

 

He looks around but saw there was nothing that they could use. Being left with no other options, he took off his own jacket and used it to cover their manager’s face. He thought about having a proper burial for him and Adora, but he knew in the back of his head that was unlikely to happen. They have bigger issues at hand to worry about.

 

“This will have to suffice for now.”

 

“Come on. We should start heading back.”

 

Exhausted with the weight of their failure, they decided to take the elevator back up. Yeonjun pressed the button and waited. However, the elevator was unresponsive. That’s when Beomgyu noticed a small but troublesome detail.

 

“Isn’t the button supposed to light up?”

 

Yeonjun hits the button a few more times. They looked back at each other communicating silent fear with their eyes. Panic was slowly settling in the pit of their stomachs and they couldn’t help but to experience a sense of deja vu. Yeonjun quickly turned away from the elevator and went to open the door to the stairway.

 

Locked.

 

Yeonjun gritted his teeth. “Not this shit again.”

 

Beomgyu walked away, beginning to pace back and forth. He used his foot to kick at the wall. 

 

“Damn it!”

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

“Found it!” Kai expresses excitedly. He held up a set of keys, jingling them with enthusiasm.

 

“There’s so many keys, how do we know which one to use?” Taehyun asks.

 

Soobin reaches towards Kai’s hand, relieving him of the keys. “I’ll test them out on the door. You guys check for any clues or signs on the body that can help us know more about this virus.”

 

With that settled, everyone went to work. One by one, Soobin patiently inserted a key and would give it a few twists before moving on to the next key. Meanwhile, Taehyun and Kai were closely examining Adora’s body for any signs or clues.

 

“I don’t think she’s infected," Taehyun says. "Or was.”

 

“What makes you say?”

 

Taehyun hesitated before answering, “When I was with manager-nim, he was acting strange.” He decided it was best not to go into explicit detail. “His eyes were also bleeding. It was as if he was crying tears of blood.”

 

Kai looks down at his hands, feeling awful. “That sounds scary. I’m sorry we left you alone. We should’ve never done that.”

 

Taehyun puts his arm around Kai’s shoulders, peering his head down trying to get a better look at his face. “It’s not anyone’s fault. It was my decision to go by myself anyways.”

 

“You could’ve died.”

 

“But you guys saved me. Not to mention you completely saved Beomgyu’s ass.”

 

Kai looks away from Taehyun, saying softly, “Yeah. I did.”

 

Taehyun remembered what he wanted to say to Kai before but haven’t yet found the right time to bring it up. He thought that now was the time to say it.

 

“Hey, this is going to sound strange but have you been feeling any different, recently?”

 

Kai stares at him with a puzzled look etched onto his face. “Different?”

 

Taehyun was quick to explain. “Just anything that seems out of the norm. Even the littlest thing.”

 

Kai takes a minute to think about his answer before telling Taehyun, “Nope. Can’t say that I have.” He shines him a bright smile to prove his point.

 

“I honestly feel fine, Taehyun. You honestly have nothing to worry about. Seriously.”

 

“I just-“

 

“Do you hear that?” Soobin interrupts.

 

Taehyun and Kai both held their breaths, straining their ears to hear the sound again.

 

“Is that...footsteps?” Kai whispered low.

 

Taehyun closed his eyes, focusing on the sound. “It’s coming closer.”

 

“What if it’s Yeonjun and Beomgyu-hyung?” Kai says.

 

“Do you really want to stay and find out?”

 

With the limited amount of time they had left, the three members looked at their surroundings trying to find places to quickly hide.

 

They only had seconds left. Taehyun and Kai hurriedly ran behind the reception counter and Soobin had no other choice but to dive low to the ground, crawling behind the couch.

 

The footsteps grew louder as it near the lobby room. It stopped before continuing to walk further into the room. Taehyun and Kai had their backs against the desk and knees bent to their chests. They were trying their best to breathe as quietly as possible.

 

Soobin was trying his best to listen closely to the footsteps in order to avoid being seen. The footsteps started approaching the couch Soobin was hiding behind. He had to crawl on all fours, trying to maneuver his way around.

 

Soobin decided to make a bold move that many may consider stupid and peer his head out the side of the couch. What he saw made his heart stop and his eyes widened in terror.

 

“I’m back, kids! Have you guys been working on your choreo? I’ve been waiting to see how much you’ve improved. Won’t you show me?”

 

The gun twirled smoothly around his finger until he stopped and gripped the handle with one hand. Eyes bleeding deep crimson and hands shaking with fervor, he smiled crookedly.

 

“I told you I’d be back, didn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like every chapter, my sanity is slowly decreasing and my notes are proof to show that I’m slowly losing it due to extreme sleep deprivation...meh
> 
> aNYGAYSss, this note isn’t completely pointless. I also wanted to mention that I’ve been thinking of a lot of new au ideas. Possibly new pairs. I’ve been planning on tackling a ghost theme au first in my next fic, considering I already have about 80% of the layout planned out. But I really wanted to finish up with this au first bc it’d bother the hell out of me if I didn’t. 
> 
> HOWEVER, I haven’t been using my time when I’m not writing to just lazy around. I’ve been doing my best voting like crazy for txt on idolpick and gathering points on starpass in preparation for their comeback. (Plus, it was my little sister’s b-day a couple days ago meaning, when it’s a nine year old little girl’s birthday, the whole damn week is her birthday :/) 
> 
> Sorryforthelongnotethankyouforreading:((
> 
> <333


	6. Hush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life Advice: do not always trust what you read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. 
> 
> So, I'm back. (yAAAAAAAAy). I've been away for a "little teeny weeny" bit and I'm so happy I've finally finished with this chapter. Lately, I've been trying to catch up on some "me time" which basically consist of me binge watching Minecraft videos (the epic comeback of the century) and attempting to not light my kitchen on fire by putting my Gordon Ramsay cooking skills to use. However, not only have I've been doing the same mundane things the past weeks (or however long it's been) but I started on a new au!!! 
> 
> My thoughts are exactly as yours: just when you'd think she'd finished what she started but instead she had to go and start a new au. To sum this whole mess up, I've finally started to write out my ghost au idea. It's not scary at all, seriously. Its really just fluff and sookai bickering in the beginning. And then the angst kicks in later. Sooooo, enjoy this chapter!!! <333

_As much as you belong with the stars, I wish you were right here with me_

_-sb_

 

Once again, the boys find themselves put in a dangerous situation. Soobin knew he needed to find a way to get himself and his members to safety. And fast.

 

He saw only three options. 

 

One, he goes in for an attack from behind. He’d have the element of surprise, but doing so could possibly put him or the others in danger of being the target of a 9mm caliber sized Glock. It was too risky. 

 

Two, he leaves the building, making a run for it. If all goes according to plan, he can lead their enemy far away. However, he has the key to the building. If he leaves then the boys would be left vulnerable and defenseless without proper security. There was no way he could give the keys to his members without revealing their location.

 

Three, they hide.

 

He looks at the receptionist counter and back at their dance instructor. When he wasn’t looking, Soobin quietly sneaked out from behind the couch and slid next to Kai.

 

Taehyun and Kai looked at their leader to tell them what to do, seeking guidance. Soobin motioned his head towards the door that lead to the hallways. Taking another risk, Soobin poked his head out by the side of the counter just enough to catch a quick glimpse at their dance instructor. Seeing that the coast was clear, he tiptoed his way towards the door. Taehyun and Kai follows close behind, successfully sneaking out undetected.

 

“I can’t believe we just got out of there alive,” Kai said after letting go of the breath he was holding.

 

The boys were fast-walking through the halls, trying to move quickly but at the same time trying not to make too much sound.

 

“Let’s not celebrate yet,” Soobin let out breathily, feeling his heart pound a hundred beats per second. ”We have to get back to the studio where we all agreed to meet up at.”

 

Taehyun looked up at him, “Shouldn’t we find Yeonjun and Beomgyu-hyung and warn them?”

 

“It’s too risky. Besides, they should be done by now anyways. I’m sure they’re on the elevator as we’re speaking.”

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

“We should be on the elevator right now as we’re speaking.” Beomgyu said from his slumped position against the wall.

 

“It can’t be helped. We’re stuck.” 

 

“How is it possible that we’re trapped once again?”

 

Yeonjun had his back against the door when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He snapped his head at Beomgyu, “You don’t think there’s someone else in the building. Do you?”

 

Beomgyu’s eyes widened and he froze from the possibility. He played with the thought in his head before looking back up at his hyung. “Who?”

 

“I’m not exactly sure, but if we’re locked down here then, Soobin and the rest are most likely in danger.”

 

“We should pull the fire alarm.”

 

Yeonjun shakes his head, “No, that’d attract attention from all around us. It’ll most likely just bring us more trouble and put the boys at more risk.”

 

“So what? We just sit on our asses and let our members get murdered then wait for our turn next?”

 

Yeonjun sighes, combing his hair away from his face, “Of course not, just...just let me think.”

 

Beomgyu opened his mouth to retort but went against it, deciding to not let his emotions take control of him.

 

A million thoughts were flying through Yeonjun’s head and he could just begin to feel the heavy weight of being put under pressure settle onto his shoulders. As the eldest among his members, Yeonjun had a responsibility to take care of everyone and be a reliable and dependent older brother. And right now, it was killing him how his beloved members above were probably getting murdered while he was incapable of doing anything to help in his current situation with Beomgyu. 

 

It was a feeling unlike anything he's ever experienced before. Of course, there was always that fear of not being good enough and being put under pressure of living up to his seniors’ and Bighit’s global name. The pressure of putting on a performance better than perfect. But it was _nothing_ compared to the pressure that was crushing in on him from all sides and making his head spiral and buzzing with anxiety in this moment.

 

He takes deep breaths, feeling the oxygen fill up his lungs before exhaling through his nose and repeating the cycle again. It was as if his body went into survival mode and his head was suddenly cleared. He looked at the elevator doors thoughtfully before walking towards it.

 

“Come here, Beomgyu. Come here, now!” He called urgently.

 

Beomgyu hastily scattered to his feet, obeying his hyung’s order. “What are we doing?”

 

“We got to pry the doors open and we’re going to climb the ladder up the elevator shaft.”

 

“We’re doing _what_ now?”

 

“Hurry up and help me! We don’t have much time. Something bad could be happening right now.”

 

Beomgyu didn’t question him any further and silently went to the other side of the elevator. With their fingers tucked in between the crack, they pulled with all their might trying to wrench the metal doors apart. 

 

In order for Yeonjun’s plan to work, they needed to first get the car doors to open. Then, they had to open the hoistway doors by manually releasing the interlock. (That is if they could reach it.) Once they get through the doors, they needed to open the emergency hatch door if it isn’t locked and climb on top of the elevator. Simple enough, isn't it?

 

After successfully forcing the car doors open, Beomgyu looks up at Yeonjun ready for the next instruction. “What’s next?”

 

“We have to trip the interlock on the hoistway door and push the hoistway door open.”

 

“Do you know how?”

 

“I will.”

 

What they were about to do isn’t as easy as it looked in the movies and climbing an elevator shaft is a lot more dangerous than it sounded. Beomgyu wasn’t afraid of sharing his doubts and concerns. “Are you sure we should do this? Even if we get the hatch to open, we could possibly fall to our death climbing the elevator shaft. It’s not safe.”

 

“Neither are Soobin and the rest are up there,” Yeonjun stared long and hard at Beomgyu with an unwavering gaze. “We don’t have any other choice,” he said with a sharp edge to his voice.

 

“But it’s not like we’re elevator mechanics or anything. I’m serious when I say we could actually _die_ ,” Beomgyu persisted in his argument. “Since when did you become an engineer?”

 

“Since now.”

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

 

“The door is made out of fucking glass,” Taehyun pointed out.

 

“All the doors are made out of glass. It’s not like we can hide in a closet,” Soobin explained.

 

They finally made it to the studio where everyone was supposed to meet at. They locked the door but it wasn’t going to be much help against an armed man hunting them down. There wasn’t much time left before they would get found and shot one by one. Kai looked around and an idea popped into his head.

 

“Hey, you guys. Let’s push all the furniture in front of the door so that he won’t be able to easily break in. It’s not much, but it’ll buy us some time.”

 

“Wait, what? What about Yeonjun and Beomgyu-hyung? We should wait for them.”

 

“I don’t think waiting in here like a bunch of sheep ready to get butchered in a slaughterhouse is a good idea.”

 

“Are you crazy? We can’t just leave them out there.”

 

“What choice do we have?” Kai pleaded with Taehyun, voice rising in desperation.

 

“One where we can be humane and still act like decent human beings.”

 

"I understand having morals is important, but this is survival we're talking about."

 

“You guys, shut up! We have to keep our voices down before we get caug-”

 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” they hear a sinister voice sing in a lullaby manner coming distantly from outside the door. The voice was faint and a bit muffled but was still audible enough for them to shut the fuck up.

 

Everyone held their breaths trying to listen to the footsteps that were slowly approaching closer and closer to the door with each passing second. When they heard the footsteps stopped momentarily in front of their door, everyone’s hearts jumped to their throat. The large building felt more quiet than it already was and anxiety was crawling underneath their skin. Now, they waited for the inevitable where they would be drowning in a pool of each other’s blood.

 

As Soobin was trying to think of every possible scenario where he could at least save his members and possibly sacrificed himself, the footsteps faded away, continuing onward and passing their door.

 

Taehyun let out the breath he hadn't realized he’d been holding and looked at his members, face clearly expressing the shock he was experiencing in this moment.

 

Kai releases a high pitched scream when harsh banging was loudly heard outside their door. The thunderous sound was so loud, it was almost ear-splitting, making all of them jump in fright.

 

“I know you’re in there.” The banging to their door grew louder and more persistent with each second they refused to open the door.

 

After snapping out of their paralyzed state, the boys worked quickly to barricading the door with the bookshelf, sofa, and desk that was only available in their small, cramped studio.

 

“Open this door,” they heard. “Open this damn door!”

 

As soon as they were done pushing the last piece of furniture against the door, they hear the deafening sound of a gun going off and the startling sound of glass shattering.

 

Luckily, the bullet flew past them and had hit the wall instead. Soobin shoved Taehyun and Kai to the other side of the room, trying to distance themselves away from the door. They get down on the floor, ducking their heads low in the corner, trying to avoid the spray of bullets. 

 

Their dance instructor pushed the obstacles that was blocking his path away with his shoulders. Inch by inch he started entering the room. Soobin got in front of Kai and Taehyun and cuddled them to his chest trying to shield them as best as he could.

 

“I’m not going to hurt you, boys. I don’t want to hurt you. I only want to talk.”

 

At last, their intruder has finally broken inside and wore a victorious smile on his face. 

 

Kai peeked his head out from Soobin’s shoulder only to look up at a gun pointed in their direction. 

 

He closed his eyes and clutched onto Soobin tighter, burying his face in his neck.

 

A harsh _bang!_ was the last thing they heard before they were even able to say their final words to each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading as always.
> 
> Also, I have this fantasy, magical au idea in my head and I'm so tempted to write it but I already have two unfinished work and I need to calm myself down. 
> 
> Dear future me,
> 
> if you begin a new au without finishing either of the two you're already working on, so help me god-
> 
> sincerely, yourself.


	7. Delusions Met With Paranoia Met With Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *See title of chapter*
> 
> (obviously, my lazy ass couldn't be bothered to come up with a summary :/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy yooo what's up my duuuudessss (I don't know why I'm talking like this but ignore me). I'm so sorry for the long wait, I feel terrible for taking so long getting this chapter out. What might even sound frustrating to some is that this chapter has actually been halfway finished for awhile but I didn't feel all that motivated to finish writing the whole thing so therefore I now have three other aus at hands I've started working on and I've picked up this habit of (you guessed it) not finishing what I started bc none of my aus I've started this summer has been completed. *cricket noises*
> 
> More of my useless, unnecessary ranting will be at the end note but please enjoy this long overdue chapter<333

If death was supposed to be slow and painful, Kai would disagree because he barely felt a thing—if anything at all. 

 

He slowly opened his eyes, expecting to be surrounded by soft clouds and warm lights and greeted by the stairway to heaven. Instead, he finds himself still crouched in the corner of the room, cuddled closely next to his hyungs. 

 

The only difference about his surroundings was that the man who had a gun pointed at them seconds ago, now laid silent and motionless on the floor by their feet. 

 

Kai blinks slowly at first before looking up to see a heavy breathing Beomgyu with a fire hydrant gripped tightly in both his hands. Next to him, Yeonjun stares wide-eyed at the scene before him. 

 

When Soobin and Taehyun finally realized that something happened, they were quick to get up and turn around to see what had happened. Relieved that his members were still alive and safe, Yeonjun pulled them into a quick hug.

 

“Are you guys alright?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” Tahyun responded back to him. “How about you? What happened to you two?”

 

“We were stuck and couldn’t get out at first. The elevator wasn’t working and the door was locked.”

 

“So we climbed our way out of the elevator shaft,” Beomgyu added.

 

Soobin’s eyes widened in alarm. “You did _what_?”

 

“It’s fine now. No one's hurt,” Yeonjun reassured. “But Beomgyu almost lost his footing and nearly fell down the ladder.”

 

“It was dark!” Beomgyu retorted.

 

Before they could longer discuss their difficult adventure back to the studio, Taehyun quickly interrupts, “On a more important note, is _he_ still alive?” he motioned his head towards the body on the floor.

 

Yeonjun crouches down to check his pulse. Looking back up at his members with a conflicted look, he says, “Still breathing.”

 

A moment of silence hung in the air and no one said anything at first. After awhile of exchanging unsure glances, Taehyun was the first to break the silence, “What should we do with him?” He looks around at his member’s faces but they all shared the same look.

 

“We can’t kill him,” Kai finally says. “Even if he’s infected, we can’t just murder a defenseless man.”

 

“So let’s just lock him outside of the building,” Yeonjun suggests.

 

Beomgyu shook his head at the suggestion, “I don’t know about that. We’re still going to need to go outside ourselves to stock up on supplies. He could be waiting outside the building and ambush us at anytime. Plus, he could hurt other people.”

 

“We can’t just leave him here,” Taehyun points out. “We have to make a decision.”

 

“Neither of those choices are an option,” Kai stated firmly.

 

“Leaving him alive and keeping him here isn’t an option either,” Beomgyu explains.

 

Before the heated discussion could escalate any further, Yeonjun turned his head to face their leader, seeking out his opinion on the matter, “Soobin. You haven’t said anything the majority of this conversation. What do you think we should do?” he asks him directly.

 

After hearing his members discuss seriously about the pressing matter they had at hand, he noted how everyone seemed to be tangled up in a heap of panic and fear, preventing them from coming to a peaceful agreement.

 

His eyes were set determined as he gathered his thoughts together. “We’ll tie him up and keep him locked inside another room. We’ll figure out what to do with him later. We have more concerning matters to talk about. We still need to discuss about food, weapons, what we’ve found about this virus and future plans. Little steps first, okay?”

 

Although the members weren’t fully content, they all agreed to settle with the plan and follow their leader. 

 

Taehyun quickly mentions, “Wait. We don’t have any ropes to tie him up, though.”

 

Kai looks around, deep in thought when his eyes suddenly landed on the gun that was laid a couple yards away from them.

 

“That gun was taken from a security guard, right? Maybe if we find the security guard, we can use handcuffs instead.”

 

The eldest throws him a look before saying, “You really want to search around the building after almost getting shot to death?”

 

“No, it’s fine actually,“ Soobin interrupts. “We need to go around the perimeter and lock all entrances to secure the building anyways. We’ll simply multitask.”

 

With all that taken care of and settled, the boys get to work. They decided that Soobin and Kai will be the ones in charge of locking the building, considering that Taehyun is still in the state of recovery and Beomgyu and Yeonjun are quite exhausted from their little climb.

 

Meanwhile, Yeonjun’s job is to collect all the scraps of food that he can find in the building and Beomgyu is responsible with the task of watching over Taehyun while he rests in the break room.

 

The leader and maknae are supposed to meet back with the rest of them in the break room where they decided they’ll take refugee at in the building. 

 

First and foremost before anything, Yeonjun and Beomgyu had to drag their unconscious dance instructor into an isolated room. With the set of keys Soobin still had, he found the correct key and locked the door.

 

Although they were doing a fine job of solving one problem at a time and getting past obstacles that got in their way, still, they had a long way to go in terms of progression and survival. But it was with certain, the boys weren’t giving up without a fight.

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

After the awful disaster of nearly being killed, Soobin thought he would check up on the maknae, worried that all their previous events and dangerous encounters with near death might’ve been a little overwhelming to handle.

 

 “How are you feeling?” he says in a gentle manner.

 

It was going to take awhile to lock all the entrances to the building, not to mention they were also looking for a possibly dead body guard. Soobin thought that after all the troubles they faced, he could finally use the time to check on how his youngest member was doing.

 

“Scared,” Kai admits. “I don’t want to die.”

 

Soobin bumped his shoulder lightly with Kai’s. “That’s not going to happen,” he says. “I won’t allow it.”

 

They started with the main entrance of the building. After making sure the doors were securely locked, they then made their way to the emergency exit at the back of the building.

 

As they walked side by side, their hands would accidentally brushed up against each other. Soobin hesitated at first, occasionally reaching with his fingers then pulling them back just as quickly. But he finally decided to hell with it and enclosed Kai’s hand with his and naturally, their fingers interlaced with each other. 

 

Soobin took it as a good sign, ignoring the fact that the younger’s hand seemed to be slightly trembling, but he shook it off as just a sign of anxiety and stress, not fully realizing the extent of Kai’s situation.

 

Once they’ve finished locking all the entrances, the last stop was to check the underground parking lot, for that’s where most of the security guards are usually stationed at.

 

They were walking towards the security room, when Kai stopped in his tracks. Upon noticing his lack of presence by his side, Soobin stopped and turned around.

 

With worrying eyes, he approaches the younger cautiously, “What’s wrong?” he asks in a soft tone.

 

There was no response from the younger, however. Soobin watched as Kai remains eerily quiet, not moving a muscle. The older noticed there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Something about being alone in an empty, vast parking lot with dim lighting and complete silence was unsettling to say the least.

 

“Kai?” Soobin tries to call out to him.

 

When he didn't think the younger was going to say anything, he takes a step closer to the boy, meaning to reach for his elbow. 

 

As soon as his fingers grazed the surface of his skin, Kai immediately jolted away with so much force, it almost seemed as if he was punched, “Don’t _touch_ me!” he screamed at him.

 

Soobin jumped back from Kai’s sudden outburst, immediately retracting his hand back when the younger flinched away from his touch so harshly.

 

There was a moment of silence that hung in the air between them. When Kai realized what he had done, he brought his hands up to his mouth, widening his eyes in shock. Soobin could only stare back with similar pair of eyes, frozen in place.

 

Kai’s harsh reaction to Soobin touching him was odd to say the least. Soobin didn’t know what to say to break the wall of ice that now seem to separate them. 

 

After Kai had gotten over his shock, he was able to muster up words of apology, “I’m sorry, hyung,” he begins. “I d-didn’t mean to shout at you like that, I—” he says, stumbling over his words.

 

“It’s fine,” Soobin was quick to reassure. “You’re probably just...” he pauses in the middle of his sentence briefly. “You’re probably just under a lot of stress. I understand. It’s no worries.”

 

Kai nodded in agreement, hanging his head down low. Soobin hesitated before reaching out to touch him again. Gently, this time, he wrapped one arm around his shoulders and brought him closer to his chest, engulfing him in a tight hug.

 

Soobin could feel Kai tremor slightly in his hold. His voice shook, too, when he barely whispered out, “I’m sorry.”

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

When everything was finally taken care of on the other half of the team’s side, Taehyun took it upon himself to bring up a very much needed to be spoken about discussion concerning a certain, beloved maknae.

 

“We need to discuss something important,” he tells them.

 

Beomgyu got up from his lying position on the floor to face his younger member properly, “There’s plenty we need to discuss,” he says. “Which one do you have in mind?”

 

Taehun takes a deep breath, feeling his heart pound just a little bit harder inside his chest, “It’s about Kai.”

 

Yeonjun raises one eyebrow up in questioning, curious to know what Taehyun was going to say, “What about him?”

 

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

 

After Kai had calmed down from his little outburst, the two continued on their way where they needed to be. When they reached the door to the security room, Soobin went to open the door but it appeared to be locked. Luckily, he remembered the set of keys he had tucked in his pocket and he pulled them out to find the right key to the door. 

 

When the door was finally opened, they stepped inside the small room. And sure enough, a corpse was found on the chair, facing the security camera footage that was displayed on the screens. It was easy to tell the guard died a terrible death from the slit across his throat.

 

“Stay here,” Soobin tells the younger, not wanting him to see anymore of the gruesome scene. 

 

Although it was obvious that the security guard was no longer alive, Soobin still approached the lifeless body with caution, afraid that the bloody corpse will come back to life at any second and attack him. After what felt like forever, Soobin was able to get the cuffs that was attached to his belt off of him. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small radio, music still playing out from it.

 

He snatched the device off the table and brought that along with him too. Maybe, with a bit of luck, they could find the right station that could help them give them directions to a sanctuary or useful information about this strange virus they had little to no information about.

 

Not wanting to stay in the room any longer than they had to, the two made their way out and began their short journey back to the break room where the rest of their members were waiting for them. But before that, they had to go back to the room where their dance instructor was and handcuff him so that he would no longer be able to post a threat to their wellbeing. 

 

Fortunately, he was still out as a light and getting him handcuffed proved to be of no difficulty. Soobin made sure the cuffs were secured tightly around his wrist before leaving the room and locking the door once again.

 

The whole way through, Soobin noticed Kai’s quietness. It wasn’t really strange with how little he said, but it was a different aura that he now seemed to emit. Soobin couldn’t quite put his finger on where the change started occurring from, but somewhere along the way he began to feel the slight change in the air around him. 

 

He went to extend his arm out to him but quickly changed his mind, fearing that if he were to try and touch him again, he would be met with the same reaction Kai gave him before in the parking lot, confirming his suspicion that something is terribly, terribly _wrong_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Warning: this is gonna be long.)
> 
> You got to the end!!!!!!! Yaaaaaay! Soooo, now that you've made it this far, I would like to personally thank everyone for giving this au a chance and an extra thanks to those who have stuck through with this au even when there were times I felt like I was biting off more than I could chew and felt like dropping everything to continue writing this au at another time......like two years another time 🤪.
> 
> BUT, even so, I'm really happy that I've written this and went out of my comfort zone to write in different genres that I'm usually not familiar with. In addition, I feel like writers who puts in a lot of time and effort into their works should be proud and happy with what they've created and want to share with the world. So special shoutout to anyone who writes not bc of anything else but simply for the love of doing so. That's why I think I deserve to be a little proud of this au bc I haven't written so much words since my freshman year in high school and it feels good to know I did something a bit productive with my time besides binge watching youtube videos and Netflix and taking naps at unusual hours of the day.
> 
> Speaking of school, summer break is coming to an end for me and I will resume school next week. Do not panic, though, because I still plan on finishing this au (and hopefully my other ongoing aus) even then. But just a head up that if updates seems to continue to be even slower that you have school to blame :). 
> 
> If you're still reading this, thanks? I don't know why anyone would stay to hear my pointless rambling but I appreciate it more than you'll know.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, you. Thanks for reading this. This has probably been the fastest chapter I've ever written, but I needed to get out of my writer's block, so I came up with this. It's not fully polished, for I only read over it like, thrice? So, yes. I know there has been some better works you've seen, but I hope you come back to find out what happens in the next chapter.ヽ༼ಢ_ಢ༽ﾉ Summer is finally here (hallelujah) so I'll definitely have time to write until my fingers fall off. Good night/morning/afternoon and goodbye for now.
> 
> p.s-the title is actually lyrics from TXT's song, "Crown".
> 
> p.s.s-sookai will make a small, but certain appearance probably in the next chapt.


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